I shudder to think what the wind chill is. It's been windy as hell out there. I feel badly for all of the animals. I wish I could bring them all inside and feed them and keep them warm. :frown:
What sucks here (and, granted, it's not nearly as cold as most of the country, of course) - is that my outdoor cat would rather run off and curl up somewhere during one of our cold nights (low 30's = cold as it gets here, typically) - than to come inside. I have to time it just right, by picking the coldest night to fool her into being hauled in, as the next few, she'll bolt at the mere sight of me if it's after dark. I want her to be warm and cozy, but her instincts are telling her she can do it better on her own than in a 55-60 degree heated house*... So be it. *To me, that's pretty fucking comfy... And at least 20-30+ deg. warmer than outside...
I'd be freezing in your house. I try to keep it at around 68. 70 degrees is the best temp. ever, inside and out.
hope your cat is spayed.... and make sure you hit the roof of your car before you crank it. This time of year vets get tons of cat that have had a leg torn off due to climbing ontop of a car engine to keep warm. I have no idea how it happens (like what car part does it) but it does every winter.
It is usually the radiator fan.I saw it happen to a cat once,tore his ear off and most of his fur on one side but it survived.
Never seen that happen... always legs, and 2 tails. Only 6 people out of like 20-25 ... paid for the cats to have a proper amputation, and keep the cat... all the others had them put to sleep. I did the surgery on one of the tails last winter for a friend (Arab was out of town) ... turned out great. It was easy... just went down further on the bone, pull the skin up, close. Did not have anything to cauterize ... tails are very vascular... so heated up a spoon, to burn it.... My friend was freaking out... so I told her, it is either this... or die from bleeding, or go to an ER clinic and spend about 800-1200$ It was not even her cat- just a stray, I neutered him when I was done with the tail, since he was already sedated. Cat did great, just saw him the other day. Turned out to be the best , sweetest cat ever... just has a half nubby lookin tail - she named him Rambo.
Back to the weather ... last night was the first time I turned on the heat. It is 31 here right now, but last night it was like 16-18. I love cold weather... I turned the thermostat to 68.. and broke out the electric blanket. Woke up with all my cats on top of me, and none of them would move. I wonder if heating will cost more this year. My sister lives way out in the country, and they have a propane tank due to gas lines not going out there. She showed me what it cost her last year for heat....About 850 per month- its a big house. This year they are using the wood burning stove more. My gas bills last year ran 130-170 per month last winter....and like 35-50 in the the other months
I'm on the budget and it runs 67/mo all year. So I pay the same in the summer as the winter. I would end up paying close to 200/mo in the winter more than likely for gas and about 20 in the summer, so it works pretty good for me. Electric would be low in the winter as high as hell in the summer. I like the budget. I don't like surprises when I open bills. Although, I expect it to go back up to 98 bucks a month or higher again. It fluctuates, so just disregard everything I just said.
